Exclusive: ‘Fifty Shades’ Director James Foley Set for ‘Alcatraz’ Movie

Fresh off directing a pair of Fifty Shades of Grey sequels back-to-back, James Foley is set to direct Alcatraz for the producers of John Wick and 300, Collider has exclusively learned.

Basil Iwanyk and Gianni Nunnari are producing via their respective companies Thunder Road and Hollywood Gang Productions. Thunder Road president Erica Lee will also produce. Ian Mackenzie Jeffers wrote the script, which follows a bank robber as he makes a daring escape from Alcatraz. It’s based on the true story of Frank Morris, one of three men who attempted to escape from Alcatraz in June 1962, as outlined here. To this day, those three men remain on the U.S. Marshals Service’s “most wanted” list.

Image via Universal Pictures

Foley got his start directing music videos for Madonna before directing the Material Girl in the 1987 movie Who’s That Girl. He went on to direct personal favorites such as Glengarry Glen Ross and Fear before taking the reins of The Chamber, The Corruptor, Confidence and Perfect Stranger. He had to wait another decade to direct his next feature, taking over the Fifty Shades sequels from Sam Taylor-Johnson, who helmed the first film in the franchise. Foley kept busy during that decade by directing episodes of House of Cards, Hannibal, Wayward Pines and Billions. He’s represented by UTA, Elevate Artists Management and attorney Alan Wertheimer.

Hollywood Gang recently produced WB’s 300: Rise of an Empire and Relativity’s Immortals, while Nunnari himself served as an executive producer on Martin Scorsese‘s Silence, as well as Shutter Island.

Iwanyk is the prolific producer behind the John Wick and Sicario franchises, and he also served as an executive producer on the new Robin Hood movie starring Taron Egerton as well as Bradley Cooper‘s awards hopeful A Star Is Born. He’s repped by CAA.

Jeffers previously wrote Joe Carnahan‘s The Grey and James Wan‘s Death Sentence. He’s repped by UTA, madhouse Entertainment and attorney David Fox.

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